After all, the name isn't at the top of the MusicNow and Homecoming festivals artist listing, a three-day citywide arts celebration starting Friday.

That top billing belongs to The National, Feist, Father John Misty, the Breeders, Future Islands.

This band's name is not big. It's not bold. But the meaning of this name?

That's monumental.

The latest project from brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner – most famous as members of The National – is named for the creek that flows near their childhood home on Cincinnati's East Side, Red Bird Hollow.

So those three words? They mean home.

The Dessners will kick off the festival weekend as Red Bird Hollow at the Cincinnati Masonic Center Friday.

The Dessners and their bandmates' connection to their hometown of Cincinnati, to home, is actually central to the festival programming, Bryce Dessner said.

Each member was born here and raised here, but they mostly live their lives elsewhere now. (Drummer Bryan Devendorf is the exception; he continues to live in Cincinnati.)

But for 13 years now, MusicNow Festival "is a homecoming every year," Bryce Dessner noted.

It's been a weekend for them to share their favorite artists, for them to bring those artistic experiences back home, he said.

In the past, those favorite artists have alternative rock acts like Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors and Sufjan Stevens, as well as classical music innovators like Kronos Quartet.

Overall, this effort is meant to be a gift, a way to both highlight and honor Cincinnati's rich creative traditions.

Alvvays.(Photo: Provided)

That tradition is made of world-class institutions like the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a longtime collaborator of Dessner, who is also an accomplished classical composer. (The band played with the CSO in Music Hall for the 10th anniversary of MusicNow.)

And visual arts programs like DAAP (The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning).

Both The National lead singer Matt Berninger and bassist Scott Devendorf attended DAAP.

And there's the independent and alternative rock tradition in the area, Dessner said.

These movements still have a home at places like Shake It Records in Northside, Dessner said, and are embodied by groups like The Breeders that have roots in Dayton.

The Breeders were founded when members of The National were in high school.

They are a band they listened to when they all lived here, Dessner said. And they are playing Homecoming Saturday night.

The MusicNow and Homecoming festival schedule reads a bit like the band biography.

It features longtime collaborators like photographer Graham MacIndoe. The band met MacIndoe in New York City in the early 2000s. He took some of the first official portraits of the band.

Most recently, he created images for The National's "Sleep Well Beast," the group's Grammy-winning 2017 offering. He also photographed the tour that followed that album.

His work will be featured in an exhibition at Contemporary Arts Center this weekend and was curated by bassist Devendorf,

And then there are groups like Mouse on Mars, which Dessner described as "a very influential" electronic duo from Germany.

They were "deeply involved" in "Sleep Well Beast." The Dessners then collaborated with Mouse on Mars for their latest album, "Dimensional People," released in April.

Mouse on Mars will perform Friday with the Dessners and other collaborators Sam Amidon, Lisa Hannigan and Spank Rock.

It's the only performance of its kind scheduled in the U.S.

Rare collaboration and premieres have always been a hallmark of MusicNow. This year, Dessner noted that the performances at The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center "is very special and not happening elsewhere."

That includes Crash Ensemble performing Hans Abrahamsen’s “Schnee” and MacArthur fellow Tyshawn Sorey and his trio, and Eighth Blackbird with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Bryce Dessner.

The National will also perform its breakout album, 2007's "Boxer" in its entirety Sunday evening as part of Homecoming. It will be only the second time in a decade that they've done that.

Exhibits and additional programming

MusicNOW will also present Ofir Klemperer’s “Signals For Immediate Music” Friday, April 27, an ensemble piece leading artists and the audience on an improvised collaboration at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center.

The CAC will host an exhibition by photographer Graham MacIndoe, featuring images from The National’s “Sleep Well Beast” and subsequent tour curated by The National’s Scott Devendorf from Thursday, April 26, through Sunday, May 27.

The Cincinnati Art Museum will host two video installations by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, a frequent collaborator with The National and the Dessners. Solo performances from Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir, who is featured in one of these videos, will be held at the CAM on Saturday, April 28, and Sunday, April 29.

The Cincinnati Balletwill present a work based on Bryce Dessner’s “Murder Ballades” with music performed by eighth blackbird and choreography from Justin Peck of the New York City Ballet in several performances during the weekend.